ABOUT LAST NIGHT: The Rattlers lost 9-1 to Peoria. The Chiefs scored seven times in the bottom of the sixth inning. Ryan Flaherty and Kyler Burke both homered for the Chiefs in the game.
GOIN’ DEEP: Brett Lawrie gave the Rattlers a 1-0 lead in the top of the third inning. He hit his tenth home run of the season with two outs. Lawrie has hit two of his ten homers against the Chiefs.
MATCHED AND SURPASSED: Peoria scored an unearned run to tie the game in the bottom of the third. There was one out and a runner at second when DJ Fitzgerald struck out, but reached on a passed ball. Then, with two outs and runners at second and third, Lawrie committed an error on a grounder to allow the tying run to score. Burke led off the bottom of the fourth inning with a homer off Rattlers starting pitcher Trey Watten and the Chiefs were up 2-1.
SILENT RUNNING: After Lawrie’s homer in the third, Wisconsin had five base runners in the rest of the game and there was never more than one runner on at a time. There were three hits, a walk, and an error to account for the runners over the final 5-1/3 innings.
THAT ESCALATED IN A HURRY: Watten retired the first batter of the sixth inning. The next five batters reached against him. Burke doubled, Michael Brenly singled him home. A walk and an infield single loaded the bases. A wild pitch let Brenly score. Nelson Perez doubled in a pair of runs to knock Watten out of the game. Pedro Lambertus relieved and got the second out of the inning, but an error extended the inning and Flaherty lined a three-run homer to cap the scoring for the night.
DOUBLE, DOUBLE: Corey Kemp had a pair of doubles for the Timber Rattlers last night. He leads the team in that category with 24.
STORIES FROM THE ROAD: The Rattlers a 1-7 in their last eight road games. They have been outscored 67-25 in those eight games. In the seven losses during that stretch of road games, Wisconsin has been outscored 60-14.
STATUS REPORT: The Rattlers have played 27 games and there are 43 left to play in the second half. Wisconsin holds a ½ game lead over the Peoria Chiefs for the top Western Division playoff spot in the second half. The Rattlers are one game up on Burlington, Clinton, and Quad Cities for the Western Division Wild Card.
ABOUT THE OPPONENTS: The Peoria Chiefs are the Midwest League affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. They missed the playoffs in the first half of the season with a 38-31 record. So far in the second half, the Chiefs are 13-15. They hold the second half wild card spot in the Western Division and trail the Rattlers by a ½ game for the top second half playoff spot. Their lead over Burlington, Clinton, and Quad Cities for the wild card is ½ game. They are on a three-game winning streak after winning the final two games of their three-game set with Lansing at O’Brien Field and beating the Rattlers last night.
SEASON SERIES: The Rattlers lead the season series 7-2. The Rattlers swept a four game series in the first half of the season with three wins at Time Warner Cable Field and one win at Miller Park. The Rattlers took three out of four from the Chiefs at Time Warner Cable Field to open the second half of the season.
COMPARE AND CONTRAST: The Timber Rattlers are hitting .240 as a team. They have scored 395 runs (4.0/game) and hit 47 home runs. The Chiefs are hitting .269 as a team. They have scored 437 runs (4.5/game) and hit 73 homers. Wisconsin pitchers have a team ERA of 4.17 while allowing a total of 474 runs (4.8/game). Peoria pitchers have a team ERA of 3.77 while allowing 413 runs (4.3/game). The Timber Rattler defense has committed 118 errors. The Chiefs defense has committed 117 errors. Wisconsin is 16-28 in road games this season. Peoria is 33-16 at home this season.
PROSPECTING: Baseball America’s Prospect Handbook listed two current members of the Chiefs roster on their list of top 30 prospects. Shortstop Ryan Flaherty is rated as the #8 prospect in the Cubs organization. Junior Lake is ranked at #14 by BA. The Chiefs previously had #1 prospect Josh Vitters and #18 prospect Chris Carpenter on their roster, but they have since been promoted.
OUT OF THE DRAFT 2009: The Cubs have placed one member of their 2009 draft class on the current Peoria roster. DJ Fitzgerald was a 22nd round pick of the Cubs in June out of Dyersville State Community College in Tennessee.
ALL-STARS: Vitters was the starting shortstop and Josh Harrison was the starting designated hitter for the Eastern Division in the 2009 Midwest League All-Star Game. Both have since been promoted. Kyler Burke was a starting outfielder for the East. Pitchers Chris Carpenter and Ryan Butcher have were both on the East Division team and Carpenter has been moved up in the Chicago system.
FAMILIAR FACE: Austin Bibens-Dirkx is Monday’s scheduled starting pitcher for the Chiefs. He pitched for the Timber Rattlers in 2006, appeared in 25 games as a reliever, and went 2-2 with four saves and an ERA of 1.95. He had pitched in the Golden Baseball League this season after being released by the Seattle Mariners. The Chiefs signed him earlier this half.
PEORIA STARTING PITCHER: RHP Aaron Shafer was the 3rd round pick of the Cubs in the 2008 draft. Shafer pitched collegiately at Wichita State University. In his final season with the Shockers, Shafer went 11-4 with a 3.26ERA and he led the Missouri Valley Conference in strikeouts with 110 while walking just 28. Shafer spent last his first professional season with stops in the Arizona League and the Northwest League. He made one appearance for the Mesa Cubs in the AZL before moving to the Boise Hawks of the NWL. In eight games (seven starts) Shafer was 2-2 with a 3.09ERA with 24 strikeouts and five walks. In his start prior to today, Shafer lost at Clinton on July 20. He gave up three runs (two earned) on five hits over six innings. Shafer was the Peoria starting pitcher in the Border Battle at Miller Park on April 24 and he was tagged with the loss. Shafer allowed four runs on nine hits over five innings. He also made the start against the Rattlers at Time Warner Cable Field on June 28 and was not involved in the decision. In that second start against the Rattlers, Shafer allowed five runs on six hits over five innings.
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